This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from an application entitled DOS-BASED CARD-TYPE VOICE MAIL SYSTEM earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Oct. 26, 1998, and there duly assigned Serial No. 98-44857.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching system, and more particularly, to a voice mail system connected to a switching system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a voice mail system is connected to a switching system as an independent device, which requires much space and is costly with respect to its maintenance. Further, because the voice mail system uses a dedicated operating system, it is difficult for a programmer to program its software without full knowledge of the operating system.
The patent to Becker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,411, entitled DOS COMPATIBLE DICTATION AND VOICE MAIL SYSTEM, discloses a DOS compatible voice mail system capable of being connected to a telephone system. However, the voice mail system must be connected to a host computer.
The patent to Choi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,968, entitled INTERFACING BETWEEN INDEPENDENT VOICE MAIL SYSTEM AND EXCHANGE, discloses an independent voice mail system connected to an electronic exchange.
The patents to Katsumaru et al. and Elliot et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,625,675 and 5,528,670, respectively entitled VOICE MAIL COMMUNICATION SYSTEM, and VOICE MESSAGE-BASED ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM, respectively, each disclose voice mail systems connected to PBX switching systems.
The following three patents each discloses features in common with the present invention but are not as pertinent as the patents discussed above: U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,920 to Wheeler Jr., entitled INTELLIGENT PERIPHERAL IN VIDEO DIAL TONE NETWORK; U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,341 to Sattar, entitled INTEGRATED VOICE PROCESSING SYSTEM; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,124 to Castandeda et al., entitled PBX SYSTEM COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a DOS-based card-type voice mail system which is installed within a switching system, and which can easily have its software programmed.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a card-type voice mail system, comprising: a key telephone system interface connected to a universal slot of a key telephone system for interfacing with the key telephone system; a codec for digitizing analog data received through the key telephone system interface from the key telephone system, and for converting the digitized data into analog data to supply the analog data to the key telephone system through the key telephone system interface; a voice mail card for compressing data digitized from the codec, and for restoring the compressed data to supply the restored data to the codec; a storage device for storing data compressed by the voice mail card, and for supplying the stored data to the voice mail card; a memory for loading a universal operating system; and a controller for controlling the card-type voice mail system in accordance with the loaded universal operating system.